This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Tuesday, 21 August 2012

The Merit of Fasting Six Days in Shawwal

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ
ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is taken from “The
Merit of Fasting Six Days of Shawwal” by Shaykh ‘Ali Juma’ah. From among the recommended virtuous acts
connected to the month of Ramadhan, is fasting six days of the month of Shawwal
because of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.)
words, “Whoever fasts Ramadhan and follows it with six days of the month of
Shawwal, is as if he has fasted an entire year.” The basis for this is that a reward for an
action is multiplied ten times. Allah (s.w.t.) Says:

He that doeth good shall have ten times as much to
his credit ... (Surah al-An’am:160)

Based on this, the Reward of
fasting one month is equivalent to the Reward for fasting ten months and the
reward for fasting six days of the month of Shawwal is equivalent to the reward
of fasting two months or sixty days, the sum of the Reward equaling an entire
year. The Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “Allah rewards an action ten-fold. Therefore, the Reward of one month is
equivalent to ten months and fasting six days after breaking the fast of Ramadhan
is equivalent to two months. This is
like an entire year.”

It is recommended to fast the
six consecutive days of Shawwal immediately following the day of ‘Iyd since this entails hastening to do
good even though the Reward is obtained by fasting any day during the month of
Shawwal. However, it is impermissible to
fast on the day of ‘Iyd.

It is desirable for one who has
refrained from fasting a day of Ramadhan due to an excuse to make it up before
fasting the six days of Shawwal. The
majority of scholars dislike for a one to perform a voluntary fast before
making up his unperformed fast days. A
person who refrained from fasting without an excuse is obliged to make up his
unperformed fast days immediately after the day of ‘Iyd.

Whoever refrains from fasting
the entire month of Ramadhan, is to make up the month in Shawwal and follow it
up with six days of the month of Dzu al-Qa’idah. This is because it is recommendable to make up
voluntary fast associated with the prescribed fast or due to the opinion of
those who hold that a person who fasts the six days beyond Shawwal, fulfills
the sunnah and attains its reward,
thereby attaining the reward of fasting for an entire year.

A person who makes up his
unperformed fast days in Shawwal without fasting additional days, fulfills the sunnah of fasting the six voluntary days
and attains their Reward if his unperformed fast days complete six.

However, he must make the
intention to make up what he has missed of Ramadhan and not that of fasting the
voluntary days of Shawwal. And since he
has made up his unperformed fast days in Shawwal, he will attain the Reward of
the six voluntary days. This is the
opinion of some scholars and the official opinion of the Shafi’i school.

Imam ar-Ramli (r.a.), issued a verdict in response to a
question from a man who had some unperformed fast days of Ramadhan and the
permissibility of making them up in Shawwal. He asked, “Is it possible to make up
unperformed fast days of Ramadhan in Shawwal and at the same time attain the Reward
of fasting the six days of Shawwal and is there any textual proof for this?”

Imam ar-Ramli (r.a.) replied, “Fasting in Shawwal
fulfills the obligation of making up the unperformed fast days of Ramadhan,
even if by these days, one intended to observe another fast and one attains the
reward of fasting the six days of Shawwal. Some latter scholars have mentioned this.” The ruling for this is further based on an
analogy to entering the mosque and praying two raka’at before sitting down by which he intended an obligatory
prayer or a voluntary prayer associated with the prescribed prayer. He will therefore attain the reward for
praying the two raka’at of greeting
the mosque.